


i like sleeping next to you

by broidkwhatimdoing



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:13:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24948991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broidkwhatimdoing/pseuds/broidkwhatimdoing
Summary: A collection of Chalex one shots I'm going to write because I feel absolutely robbed that we didn't get to see more of these two.Please send me prompts because I am useless at coming up with ideas!
Relationships: Charlie St. George/Alex Standall
Comments: 30
Kudos: 146





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Okay I loved Charlie and Alex together so much? I wish we had gotten more of them. While I wrote this the two songs I had on repeat were Hold Me While You by Lewis Capaldi wait and One by Ed Sheeran. Please enjoy and leave ideas of some prompts I could do in the comments :)

Alex had been counting down the days until he got to leave Evergreen since the second he stepped foot in that town. As the years went by, and everything happened, the want to escape became a rather desperate need. Somewhere along the way he had convinced himself that Evergreen was the problem. The town was toxic. And in some ways it was. In reality it was mostly the choices that him and his friends made that caused him so much pain and turmoil. Alex was slowly starting to learn to live with that. He used to be able to find momentary slivers of happiness, going to Monets with Jess, having risky adventures with Zach, tagging along with Tyler while he took pictures, and even just sitting on the couch watching a movie with his dad. Yet all of that was only temporary, and the loneliness he felt when it was over only fueled his desire to put as much distance between himself and Evergreen as he possibly could. Now, curled up comfortably against Charlie’s side, he finds himself dreading having to leave for the first time.

Outside he can hear the unfamiliar noises of the woods at night, and an owl was hooting somewhere in the distance, crickets chirped incessantly, and the wind shook the tree branches above their tent ever so softly. Alex had meant what he said on the Senior Retreat, he really hated camping. However, he and Charlie had wanted time alone together, free from the curious and watchful eyes of their parents. Awkwardly making out in the back of Charlie’s car wasn’t exactly cutting it anymore To Charlie, camping seemed like the perfect solution. Alex wasn’t sold, but after everything Charlie had done for him, Alex supposed he could suffer through a few bug bites. 

Charlie consistently told Alex that he didn’t owe him anything. Alex always argued with him on this, stating that Charlie had always gone above and beyond to make him feel good. Make him happy. Charlie would laugh, but there would also be a hint of pity in his eyes, and Charlie would have to explain that's what love was. The more he said that, the more Alex started to believe it. He always thought he had to settle for less, and he got used to never being loved back. Even though he knew now that Charlie loved him, he still believed that Charlie was more than what he deserved after everything he had done. He was terrified that he had become too dependent on Charlie, had gotten used to being this happy, and that leaving Charlie in Evergreen would revert him back to the dark place that he had once been so accustomed to.

Alex had his face resting on Charlie’s chest, his eyes closed as he tried to memorize the feeling of Charlie’s arm wrapped around his shoulder, the way he rubbed his knuckles up and down his spine. He knew that Charlie was awake, scrolling through God knows what on his phone despite there being no wifi. He loved this. Loved that he could finally just sit in silence without his mind spiraling.

“Babe are you awake?” Charlie asked, and Alex opened his eyes and tilted his head up slightly so he could still see Charlie's face illuminated by his phone screen, but still remain pressed against him. 

“Mhmm,” Alex mumbled in reply, and he watched Charlie smile as he leaned down to press into his hair. “What’s up?”

“Your parents just sent me this photo,” Charlie explained. 

Alex groaned and sat up, “I swear to God if it’s another baby photo I’m disowning them.”

Charlie laughed and leaned closer, making up for the loss of contact, kissing Alex on the cheek, and laying his head on his shoulder, and handing the phone to Alex. “No, it’s a photo of us at graduation.” 

At this, Alex raised an eyebrow. He had made a point to take as few photos as possible at graduation, and he does not remember taking one with Charlie. The picture was already pulled up on his phone, and sure enough, it was taken without the two of them noticing. They were in the gym after the ceremony, Alex and Charlie standing far away from the celebration in a corner, hands intertwined. It looked like Alex was talking to him about something, and for the life of him he couldn’t remember what. What struck Alex about the photo was the way that Charlie looked at him. He’d never noticed it before. Or he had, but he just hadn’t absorbed how amazing it made him feel. He realized that Charlie made him feel seen.

He clicked the done button in the corner, and the photo disappeared, and revealed a groupchat between Charlie and his family. The last text had been sent from his mom, and it was underneath the photo that had been sent. The text read: _Found this while looking for photos Alex might want in his dorm. Thank you for making our boy so happy._

Alex felt his chest tighten, and his face flush. For a moment, he thought he might be having a panic attack, but that would not make sense. Still, his body shuddered as he released a sob that he was holding back in his throat.

“Alex, what’s wrong?” Charlie sounded panicked. He took the phone out of Alex’s hands and gently tossed it on the ground. Charlie gathered him in his arms and turned him so that they were facing each other, and pressed their foreheads together. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Alex laughed and pulled away from him and could tell that his sudden mood swing had confused him. “Charlie St. George you could never upset me.” To prove his point he placed a soft kiss on his boyfriend’s lips. Alex sniffled and tried to compose himself, Charlie reached over and used his thumbs to wipe tears from his face. “It’s the exact opposite actually. I love you so much. And I’m going to miss you.”

Charlie sighed, not annoyed, more relieved. “Alex we’re going to visit each other all the time. And I’m definitely going to call you like...every single day.” Alex rolled his eyes, and Charlie grabbed his hands and kissed his knuckles. 

“You don’t understand, I haven’t been this happy in a long time. And it’s because of you,” Alex could feel Charlie’s eyes on him, like they almost always were when they were together. Attentive and understanding. “I just don’t want to go back to the way I was before.”

“Alex. You know how much I love you, and love being with you,” Charlie began. “But you’ve got to live your life while you’re at Berkley. Meet new people and try new things. Create a life that isn’t based around trauma and heartache. You know.”

“What if I fuck it up,” Alex asked. 

“Then I’ll be there to help you fix it,” Charlie assured him. “But I can’t keep you all to myself. That’s not fair to like... the whole world.”

Alex bit his lip to hold back the smile that was forming on his face, and he reached forward to hug Charlie. One of Charlie’s arms snaked around his waist, the other one cupped the back of his head, as Alex buried his face in his chest. “Sometimes I forget you’re more than just a pretty face.”

“Yeah I’m a genius,” Charlie agreed, and they pulled apart. The two of them layed back down next to each other and Charlie pulled the blankets back over them. Alex brought his arm so it was resting on Charlie’s stomach. 

“Don’t think that we aren’t going to talk about you being in a group chat with my parents,” Alex warned him. 

“Aw we just like to brag about how amazing you are,” Charlie gushed, and kissed the tip of Alex’s nose. Alex couldn’t prevent the giggle that escaped his lips at the gentle act, and it made Charlie hug Alex close against him. Safe in Charlie’s arms, Alex knew that he would never be alone. Even if Charlie wasn’t physically there, he would always be loved.


	2. Valentine's Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canadian_31 asked for a fic of Charlie and Alex's first Valentine's Day together, so I did my best to put something together. I hope you all enjoy it.

Charlie liked sleeping. More specifically he liked the first five seconds after waking up. When everything is still a blank slate. Five seconds where nothing is wrong. Then it always hits him. His mom. Monty. One of those people he misses more than the other, and the other he just feels guilty about. It was him admitting that he lied about Monty’s alibi that got him thrown in jail. Why he died. While he knows in his heart that it was the right thing to do, especially after what Monty did to Tyler, it still ate him up inside. Which is why his favorite part of the day was always those first five seconds after he woke up. 

His mom had raised him to care about people. Which sounds like something every mother would do, but with her it was different. She never got hung up on what his grades looked like, or whether or not he won a football game. She always said that what really mattered to her was that he was a positive light in the world. That’s why her favorite holiday had always been Valentine’ Day. It was about loving everyone, and getting love in return. Charlie hadn’t enjoyed a Valentine’s day since then. He had been relieved when Jessica cancelled on him for the dance the previous year. Not just because he had a huge crush on her ex-boyfriend.

The thought of Alex reminded him to grab his phone off of the nightstand where it was sitting. He sat up in his bed, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He had few texts in the football team group chat, one from his dad just checking in since he was out of town on business, and sure enough, one from Alex, like there was every morning, because Alex always managed to wake up before him.

**Alex:** _Sorry again that I can't come down for Valentine’s Day :( This paper is kicking my ass_

That text was sent at 8:12am, it was 10:15am now. Charlie texted him back, assuring him that it was fine, and that it wasn’t a big deal. He knew that Alex thought he was lying, due to his tendency for grand romantic gestures. Obviously, Charlie couldn’t explain to him why it didn’t bother him. He didn’t think it was fair to try and burden Alex by talking about his mother.

It was a Saturday, and Charlie didn’t have a lot planned. Usually he would just do whatever he could to forget what day it was. Watch a few movies, sometimes he’d try and bake but that usually made him think of his Mom, and he’d go to bed early. Today was going to be like every other Valentine’s Day since he lost his Mom. Insignificant.

Charlie got out of bed and got dressed. Usually he’d put more effort into his appearance, but he wasn’t going out today so a T-shirt and sweatpants would suffice. He ran his fingers through his hair, not bothering to gel it, and then brushed his teeth before heading downstairs. 

The first thing he noticed when he got downstairs was the music coming from the living room. It was playing too softly for him to hear it when he was upstairs. He recognized the song but he couldn’t quite place it as his adrenaline was pumping at the thought of there being an intruder in his house, since his Dad was not supposed to be home until late the next day. Cautiously, Charlie made his way into the living room, and was surprised when he saw his boyfriend staring back at him. Or, his boyfriend holding up a picture of his own face in front of his face. 

“Alex?” Charlie exclaimed. The older boy lowered the mask to reveal his actual smiling face. Charlie had to admit was as creepy as Alex had told him it was. In his other hand, he was holding a few balloons, along with a bouquet of flowers. On top of that, the room was also decorated with prop candles. 

“Surprise!” Alex said with a proud smirk on his face. For a minute Charlie forgot about what day it was, and was just ecstatic to see Alex for the first time in a month. He rushed forward and lifted Alex into his arms and spun him around, causing Charlie to drop everything in his hands, and the balloons floated up until they were stopped by the ceiling. “Charlie put me down,” Alex laughed, his feet barely were barely hovering over the floor. Charlie compiled and released Alex from his bear hug, to which Alex responded by wrapping his arms around Charlie’s neck, and using them to bring him down to his level so that he could kiss him. Charlie smiled into the kiss before taking a step back to take Alex in. 

“What are you doing here?” Charlie asked. 

“It’s Valentine’s Day!” Alex explained. “Thought I’d give you a taste of your own medicine for once. Make a huge romantic gesture. Although, I’m not good at these kinds of things so I thought I’d steal a few ideas from you.” 

The excitement that Charlie had been feeling quickly vanished at the mention of Valentine’s Day, and turned into an uncomfortable pit in his stomach. Of course he was happy Alex was here. Anytime Alex was around was special, regardless of what day it was. 

“Alex…” Charlie started to say but the other boy cut him off.

“I have a whole day planned,” Alex began. “So you need to put your shoes on-”

“Alex,” Charlie interrupted him. “I don’t want to do anything today.” When Charlie saw the hurt in Alex’s eyes, he regretted being so blunt. 

“What?” Alex said, the smile leaving his face.  
“I am so happy that you’re here, don't get me wrong,” Charlie reassured him. “I just don’t really do Valentine’s Day.” 

Alex raised his eyebrows, “ _You_ don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day? I might be biased but you’re like, the most romantic person I’ve ever met.”

“It’s just Valentine’s Day was my Mom’s favorite holiday,” Charlie stated.

Alex sighed knowingly, and grabbed Charlie’s hand and intertwined their fingers, rubbing circles onto the back of his hand with his thumb. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just shown up and surprised you like this,” Alex apologized, and Charlie could tell that he felt guilty. 

“No, I’m so happy to see you,” Charlie promised. “But could we maybe not go out?” 

“Anything you want,” Alex said, and tugged on his hand. “Just help me clean all this up and then we can find something to do.”

*

They ended up watching all the Hunger Games movies after Charlie found out that Alex had never seen them. Apparently, he had been too busy “dying his hair blonde and being edgy to partake in mainstream media”. Alex had sworn up and down that he wasn’t going to like them, but Charlie knows that he saw him tear up when Prim died. By the time the last movie wrapped up, it was already dark outside. There were Chinese takeout containers on the coffee table, and empty mugs that they’d been drinking tea out of. Charlie was sitting on the far end of the couch, Alex was lying down with his head in Charlie’s lap. At some point, Alex had gone up to Charlie’s room and had come back down wearing boxers and one of Charlie’s shirts, which looked ridiculously large on him. Yeah, it drove Charlie crazy.

“Did you like it?” Charlie asked him, his hand resting on Alex’s chest.

“It was pretty good,” Alex admitted. “I like the fact that it was meant to be a dystopia, but actually has a lot of parallels to our current society.”

“I don’t think that’s what people normally take away from these movies,” Charlie laughed.

“Well, Peeta was also really hot,” Alex added, and he brought Csharlie’s knuckles up to his lips and placed a few soft kisses on them. “To be fair though, I might just have a thing for nice guys.”

“Oh yeah?” Charlie challenged, “Prove it.”

At that, Alex shot up, and moved so that he was sitting on Charlie’s lap, one knee on each side of his legs. He wrapped his arms around Charlie’s neck, and used that leverage to pull him into a long lingering kiss. They broke apart but not for long, because before Charlie could comprehend what was happening, Alex was hugging him tightly, burying his face in the crook of his neck. “You know you can talk to me about your Mom right?”

“I don’t want to burden you with my problems Alex, it's fine,” Charlie promised. 

“You don’t want to burden _me_ with your problems,” Alex said into his shoulder. 

“You aren’t a burden Alex,” Charlie stated flatly.

“And neither are you,” Alex countered, looking up and kissing Charlie’s cheek before looking him in the eyes. “I know how much your Mom meant to you. But you never talk about her. You don’t have to, but I just need you to know that you can.”

Charlie nodded, “How about you spend the night, and I can tell you about her tomorrow?”

“Was already planning on it,” Alex said, giving Charlie one last peck before getting up, and started making his way over to the stairs, with Charlie on his heels. It struck Charlie that for the first time since his Mom died, he had really enjoyed Valentine’s Day, even if he wasn’t technically celebrating it. Who knows, maybe with Alex in his life, he could learn to love that day again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this please leave kudos, or comment any oneshot ideas you might have.


	3. The Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took forever because apparently football recruiting has a lot of rules and is extremely confusing. Anyways, evakvaltersen asked me to write the dinner scene from episode 9. I took it a little further and also wrote what happened before and after. I hope you enjoy.

**_Before_**

Alex had been pacing the length of his bedroom for the last ten minutes. Dinner would be ready any minute, and it would be time for him to follow through with the group’s plan where they all tell their parents the truth. Or at least a fraction of the truth. For Alex, that meant telling his family that he liked boys. There really wasn’t another option for him. What else could he do? Tell his parents that he murdered Bryce Walker. 

“Alex it’s going to be ok,” Charlie assured him from where he had been watching his boyfriend at the foot of Alex’s bed. Alex looked over at him, and let out an exasperated sigh and a shrug before continuing his pacing. “Come here,” Charlie motioned for him. He opened his legs, and Alex hesitantly walked over so that he was standing between them. 

“I just haven’t done this before,” Alex said, looping his arms around Charlie’s neck, who in turn wrapped his around Alex’s waist. “Like I haven’t come out before. Every other time was an accident or I got outed.” He felt Charlie squeeze him tighter when he said this.

“I’m sorry that happened. It was fucked,” Charlie insisted. It struck Alex that Charlie was the only person who had actually apologized to him, even though he had no reason to. It had been Ani, Clay, and Zach who had told people. 

“It’s fine,” Alex insisted. “I mean, it wasn’t but there isn’t really anything I can do about it now. I’m not mad.” Charlie nodded, and then pulled Alex down, falling back on to the bed so that Alex was laying on top of him. While surprised, Alex didn’t resist, just repositioned himself so that he was laying next to Charlie, but with his leg still draped over him “I just don’t want things to change with them.”

“Why would they change?” Charlie asked, they were laying face to face, almost nose to nose. Nobody had ever looked at him the way Charlie did. Alex could tell just by looking at him that he had all of Charlie’s attention. He wasn’t used to it. What he was accustomed to was being looked over, constantly everyone’s second choice, or even worse, a burden. Charlie had never made him feel like that, and that was why he had pushed him away in the first place. The feeling of being pursued, of being valued, had been so foreign to him, that he had initially thought it must be wrong. 

“When I tried to kill myself, the whole way that they viewed me changed,” Alex started. Usually when he talked about his suicide attempt, it made people visibliy uncomfortable. Not Charlie though, he continued to stare at him attentively. “They started keeping me on a really short leash. It’s like they did not trust me anymore. And it just seemed like they pitied me. And I’m tired of just being one thing. I can’t go from being just _their child who shot himself_ to _their gay son_. Not that it’s embarrassing to be gay obviously. I just want people to see me, as me. Especially my parents.”

“I don’t think that’s how your parents see you Alex,” Charlie insisted, using a hand to cup Alex’s face. “But I understand why you might feel that way. I can’t a hundred percent promise that it’s going to go well, although I’m pretty sure it will. And on the off chance that it doesn’t, I’m going to be right there to support you.”

Alex felt heat rise to his cheeks, and he did his best to cover it up. “Well that’s cheesy,” Alex said rolling his eyes. Vulnerability still made him very uncomfortable, even with someone as understanding as Charlie. In fact it was almost worse, because he did not feel deserving of it. 

“You wound me sir,” Charlie countered sarcastically, clutching his chest, feigning that Alex was breaking his heart. He apparently sensed Alex’s uneasiness with their conversation, and was changing the subject which made Alex laugh, to which Charlie returned with a smile, before leaning in to kiss Alex’s lips, then moving on to pepper kisses excessively over Alex’s face, proving once again that Charlie had the personality of a golden retriever. 

“Alex! It’s time for dinner,” His mother called from downstairs. 

Alex pulled away from Charlie for a moment to call back to her “We’ll be down in a minute!”. He looked back at Charlie who grinned, and pressed one final kiss to Alex’s forehead. 

“It’s all going to work out, okay?” Charlie said, standing up, and offering his hand to Alex.

Taking a deep breath, Alex accepted Charlie’s hand and let himself be pulled up. “Okay.”

**_The Dinner_ **

So it hadn’t been a big deal. Or it was, and it just hadn’t mattered as much as Alex had thought it would. Honestly, he was relieved. The last thing he had wanted was a long sappy conversation from his family about how much they loved him. As awful as that sounded. What he had wanted was normalcy, and that’s what he got. Everyone acted the same way they would have if Alex had brought home a new girlfriend. Except Peter was probably enjoying talking about football more with Charlie than he would have with some girl. 

Of course his family loved Charlie. Alex knew from personal experience that trying to hate Charlie St. George was a near impossible task. The guy was persistent, and he had this unfathomable sense of optimism, that Alex would typically find naive, but with Charlie it seemed to come from a place of pure authenticity. 

Peter had hogged Charlie’s attention for most of dinner. By the time they had all finished eating, Charlie had practically given him an in depth explanation of every play he had ever made. Alex was aware that it was strange for his older brother to still be so infatuated with high school football, but on the other hand he was grateful that his family was making conversations that Charlie was comfortable with. His mom and Charlie were wrapping up a conversation about bread recipes when his dad changed the subject. 

“So Charlie,” His dad started. “I heard that you’ve got recruiters ready to make you offers. Rumor is you’re a four star athlete. Maybe even a blue chip?” Alex raised an eyebrow at Charlie, this was the first time he had heard anything about this, and a lot of the terminology his dad had just used went completely over his head, and he hadn’t realized that football players committed this early. They hadn’t really talked about what things were going to look like when Alex went to college, let alone Charlie. 

“I don’t know about blue chip, obviously. But um, yeah I’ve been in contact with a lot of recruiters...for a long time, probably since I entered high school.” Charlie explained. This was also new to Alex. Sure the two of them had not been dating for that long, but they had been friends before that, and it’s not like he hadn’t sat through Zach and Justin’s games before. So what the hell?

“I’m surprised you haven’t already had any offers already. So who are your top contenders?” His father asked. 

“Well I mean I already turned down offers from North Carolina State, and University of Wisconsin,” Charlie said, and Alex’s heart sank. Both of those were really far away. How would they manage him being so far away? Things were already going to be difficult with Alex at Berkley, what would happen when they added even more distance to that. Alex bit his tongue, it was way too early into their relationship for him to be worrying about those kinds of things. Who could say whether or not they would still be together then. Of course he hoped they would be, he wanted them to, but Alex was convinced that eventually Charlie would realize that he was too good for him. “But I am expecting verbal offers from University of Florida, University of Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, and uh UC Berkeley.”

Alex’s parents exchanged a look, but he didn’t think Charlie saw it, because he was looking at Alex like he was expecting a reaction from him. But Alex was at a loss for words. He had never heard Charlie mention Berkeley before? Part of him was excited, but another part thought that what he was feeling was selfish, of course Charlie should not be making his future decisions based on him. 

“University of Florida wants you to play for them!” Peter spoke before he could say anything. “Dude that’s where you’ve got to go! They are like, one of the best in the league.”

“Peter, it’s a big decision,” His mom interrupted. “I’m sure he wants to consider all of his options.” Alex risked a glance at his mom, wanting to thank her for changing the subject. He didn’t want to talk, or think about this right now. What he wanted was to avoid the subject for as long as possible.

**_After_ **

Making out with the quarterback in the back of his car in an empty parking lot seemed like such a cliche. Yet here he was, in an empty parking lot, making out with the quarterback, in the back of his car. It struck Alex that the whole thing was very high school. He hadn’t felt like a normal teenager in a really long time. 

Charlie is on top of him, his hands under his shirt unmoving on his hips. His lips however, had quickly made their way from his lips, to his jawline, and eventually settling on a soft spot on his neck that caused Alex to let out an involuntary moan. He felt Charlie smile against his skin, obviously proud of the response he had garnered. Alex cupped Charlie’s face and brought it back up to his so that they were kissing again. Alex wanted to keep Charlie close like this forever. After they had finished dinner, Alex had found himself desperate to get away. To try and turn his mind off so he could forget about the future. Despite how enjoyable their current antics were, he couldn’t stop thinking about everything he’d said at dinner. 

“Charlie, wait,” Alex says, and Charlie immediately pulled 

“Sorry, did I do something wrong?” Charlie asked, seeming genuinely concerned that he had crossed some kind of boundary.

“No-no,” Alex assured him and he watched Charlie’s shoulders relax. He wanted to tell Charlie about how comfortable he felt with him, how safe, and that he was so grateful to be with someone that he knew would never take things further than Alex was willing to go. But now was not the time for that. “I just-I wanted to ask you, what’s a verbal commitment?”

“Oh,” Charlie sighed. He sat up, and Alex moved his legs so that they could both sit in the seats in a more appropriate manner. “It’s basically what it sounds like. A recruiter can make you an unofficial offer to play for their school, and then you can either accept it or reject it. Then your senior year you sign an official National Letter of Intent.”

“So like, you can back out of them at any time?” Alex pressed.

“I mean you can, but you really shouldn’t. It makes you look bad,” Charlie explained.

“And all those things my dad said about you being _four star_ and _blue chip_ , that means you’re really good,” Alex continued. 

Charlie seemed puzzled by where this line of questioning was going but he answered anyways. “Yeah,” He admitted. “That's why I turned down the offers I already got. Coach thought I’d get better offers.”

He wasn’t sure what answer he had wanted to hear, but it definitely wasn’t that one. “So you’re going to go to the University of Florida, right? Peter said they were one of the best,” Alex conceded. 

“What?” Charlie exclaimed. “Alex I-”

“It’s okay. If you’re the best. You should go to the best,” Alex assured him. “Or you can go to Georgia or Wisconsin. You don’t have to act like you’re considering Berkeley just for my benefit. I understand”

“Alex. I’m not making my entire decision based on football,” Charlie said. “Yes University of Florida has a great team, but the academics aren’t the best. And can you actually see me in Georgia or Wisconsin?”

“But you love football,” Alex reminded him. Charlie laughed and reached for Alex’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. 

“Exactly I love football. And all of those schools have it, I don’t care which team is the best, as long as I get to play,” Charlie emphasized. “Berkeley is a great school. I’ve been looking at it even before we got together. It’s also closer to home so I can visit my Dad. Going to one of those other schools really only matters if you want to get picked up by the pro leagues. And I don’t. I’ve got to stop eventually. Too much head trauma for me.”

Alex smiled, he couldn’t help it. “Well, we wouldn’t want you to mess up your pretty face,” Alex teased. “Imagine the blow to your confidence.”

“Nah I’d be fine. I’ve already got, like, the hottest boyfriend ever,” Charlie said, moving closer to Alex, so that he was practically on top of him again.

“Wow, cheating on me already,” Alex joked sarcastically. Charlie shook his head, he never let Alex try and put himself down like that. He affirmed this by leaning forward to kiss Alex, the passion promising that they would be resuming their previous activities. Which Alex would not object to. 

“I’m sorry if I made it about me,” Alex apologized against Charlie’s lips. “I just want to make sure you go somewhere you’re happy.”

“I haven’t made any decisions yet,” Charlie replied. “But you being there is definitely a point in the going to Berkeley column.”

“Good to know,” Alex said, and then surged forward to kiss him again, and like always, Charlie welcomed him happily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a lot of requests, my next work will be the groupchat between Charlie and Alex's parents that was referenced in the first one shot. See you all then!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope reading this was not a waste of your time. If you want to see more leave prompts in the comments because I am terrible at coming up with my own ideas. I will try and do as many as I can.


End file.
